ANIMALS
- Mammals
- elephants
- tapirs
- deer
- gorillas
- jaguar
- ocelot
- clouded leopard
- Birds
- nightjar
- hornbill
- toucan
- harpy eagle
- money-eating eagle
- cassowary
- fruit pigeons
- bower birds
- Other Critters
- tree frogs
- sugar glider
- green python
- cuscus
- tree kangaroos
- Salvadori's monitor
- Quoll
- echidna
- anteater
The tropical rain forest is the richest and most diverse biome in the world. The warm, damp climate allows plants to thrive in this region. Altogether, over 1.5 million species of animals and plants are located in the rain forest. On the other hand, the rain forest is also incredibly fragile. Rain forests that are cleared take hundreds of years to recover. Yet, rain forest the size of Ireland is destroyed every few years.
The wet conditions of the rain forest makes plants grow fast. In just five years, a tree can grow to 80 feet high and 16 inches wide. The highest trees are called emergents. The animals that live in this part of the rain forest almost never go down. These include insect-eating birds like the nightjar and fruit-eaters like the hornbill and toucan. Predators like the South American harpy eagle and the Philippine money-eating eagle also stay high above.
The main canopy of the forest traps moisture and shields the rain forest from wind. The majority of the species in the rain forest are found here. One survey identified 600 different species of beetle in one canopy.
Snakes and big cats, like the South American jaguar and ocelot and the Southeast Asian clouded leopard, lie under the shady canopy, waiting to catch their prey. They feed anything from small mammals to reptiles.
The forest floor lies elephants, tapirs, deer, gorillas, and other large mammals.
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